02 April 2010

Explaining Obama's Disastrous Mishandling of Iran, the Middle East and Israel (Part 1)

02 April 2010


Explaining Obama's Disastrous Mishandling of Iran, the Middle East and Israel (Part 1)
The Unfolding Disaster

The key argument to be made is that President Obama has a distinctive understanding of international conflict and of the Middle East in particular. Further, the argument is that this understanding is fatally flawed. As a result, instead of being the framework for solutions to the conflicts in the region, it is in fact making the problems in the region worse (see The Weakness of Obama's International Leadership #1 ).

Although some of the gloss has worn-off, there are many who still love President Obama. His words have a wide appeal. But to love him for his words and to ignore that everything he touches in the region is going badly wrong is to be too easily satisfied. 

His policy of getting tough with Israel over settlement building and the public battering of Netanyahu by Obama, Biden and Clinton, has predictably hardened the attitude of the leaders of the PA towards returning to negotiations; they can hardly afford to look softer than the US president. At the same time, looking over their shoulders at Hamas, they are pleased at the golden opportunity to look tough. In any case, why do they need negotiations when it looks certain they can get far more by letting the US, UN and Europe impose tougher terms on Israel than they could possibly get themselves?